Abilene, Texas – Trinity's men's and women's track & field teams finished off the weekend with several impressive performances at the Wes Kittley Invitational on Saturday, hosted by Abilene Christian University.
BJ Stewart (Shreveport, La. / Woodlawn) posted the fastest time for Trinity this season in the 100-meter dash, finishing in 11th place with a time of 10.85 seconds. Legend Grigsby (Houston, Texas / Cypress Creek) was not far behind at 10.93 seconds for a personal-record time. Grigsby also finished in the top 20 in the 200-meter dash with a personal-best time of 22.23 seconds.
The duo also combined with Drew Bullinger (Ft. Worth, Texas / Paschal) and Brian Rainey (Cedar Hill, Texas / Cedar Hill) to finish seventh in the 4x100 meter relay in a time of 42.36 seconds. Bullinger also narrowly missed personal records in both the 200-meter dash and 110 hurdles. His time of 15.68 seconds in the hurdles was just 0.11 from his personal best and put him 20th in today's event.
Trinity's women edged the men for the top relay finish, combining for a time of 50.58 seconds to finish fifth in the 4x100-meter relay. Jalynn Justice (Sugar Land, Texas / Hightower), Sealan Ledat (Richardson, Texas / Richardson), Avery Puig (Laredo, Texas / J.B. Alexander), and Danya Selber (Edinburg, Texas / Robert Vela) teamed up for the relay. Puig also finished 34th in the 100-meter dash, while Selber was in the top 30 in both the 100 and 200 meter events. Justice was also in both sprint races, finishing in the top 35 in each.
Hayley Huck (Prosper, Texas / Prosper) produced a pair of top 25 performances in the hurdles, including a 13th-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:15.02. She also joined up with Ledat, Carter Gray (Scottsdale, Ariz. / Notre Dame Prep), and Taylor Kotfas (Blanco, Texas / Blanco) to finish 12th in the 4x400 meter relay. Both Gray and Kotfas were also top-20 finishers in the 400-meter dash as well.
The Tiger men outdid their female counterparts in the 4x400 meter relay as Grant Bishop (Seguin, Texas / Navarro), Justin Johnson (Houston, Texas / Manvel), Sean Majors (Fredericksburg, Texas / Fredericksburg), and Josue Parra (Nile, Ill. / Maine East) were sixth in the event with a time of 3:22.40. Parra was also 26th in the 400-meter dash with his time of 51.16 seconds.
Majors, recently off of an All-American performance at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships, jumped 7.47 meters to earn second place in the outdoor event this weekend. He was also 18th in the 400-meter dash with a Trinity season-best time of 49.57 seconds. Johnson also had a pair of strong showings in the hurdles, finishing 18th in the 400-meter hurdles and 22nd in the 110-meter event.
Azariah Anderson (Saint Charles, Mo. / Francis Howell North) posted his personal-best time of 15.63 seconds in the 110 hurdles, which is the fastest time this season for a Tiger runner. Evan Witt (Midland, Texas / Trinity School of Midland) also broke his personal record with a time of 11.27 seconds in the 100-meter dash. Finally, Cooper Tyler (Austin, Texas / Anderson) had a pair of top-15 marks in the high jump and javelin throw.
2021 All-American Jordyn White (St. Louis, Mo. / Lutheran North) finished in the top 30 in three different events on Saturday. She was eighth with a mark of 5.39 meters in the long jump, 18th with a time of 16.39 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, and 30th with a time of 13.18 seconds in the 100-meter dash. Joy Areola (Tomball, Texas / Rosehill Christian) joined White in both the 100 and the long jump, finishing 24th in the 100 with a time of 12.95 seconds and 17th with her jump of 5.07 meters.
After finishing ninth in the hammer throw on Friday, Kierra Francois (Rosharon, Texas / Arlington) followed that up with a pair of top 20 performances to close out the weekend. She was 13th in the discus with her top throw of 38.01 meters, as well as 19th in the javelin with a mark of 26.73 meters.
Ellie Catron (Spring, Texas / The Woodlands Christian), Kat Elizondo (San Antonio, Texas / Jefferson), Madison Habeck (Lake Jackson, Texas / Clute Brazoswood), and Gish Sainz (El Paso, Texas / Coronado) each finished in the top 20 of the women's 800-meter run on Saturday, led by an 11th place time from Sainz. Habeck and Sainz were also in the top 11 in Friday's 1500-meter run, while Catron and Elizondo were second and sixth, respectively, in the steeplechase event.
Coach Speak
"Sean continues to stand out as one of the premiere jumpers in the country," said Head Coach Marcus Whitehead. "Overall, we had some solid performances adn we are looking forward to getting into a rhythm of competing weekly.
Day One Recap
Trinity was led by nine individual top 10 performances and several more personal records on the first of two days for the teams to compete at the multi-day event.
Elaine Kaster (Lewisville, Texas / Founders Classical Academy) was third in the women's 5,000-meter run, while Will Salony (Dallas, Texas / JJ Pearce) matched that finish in the men's race. Kaster set a new personal record by nearly 15 seconds, while Salony nearly broke 15 minutes in his first attempt at the event. Also setting new personal bests in the event were senior Ardi Saunders (Coppell, Texas / New Tech) and junior Ben Whittemore (Georgetown, Texas / Georgetown), and both Tigers finished in the top 20. Diego Flores (San Antonio, Texas / Great Hearts Monte Vista North) was sixth in his first collegiate 5K, finishing just three spots behind his teammate.
The 3,000-meter steeplechase featured four of Trinity's top 10 performances, led by Catron and her second-place showing. Elizondo was sixth with a new personal best, while both Caden Erickson (Holdrege, Neb. / Holdrege) and Melvin Cruz (Houston, Texas / Awty International) were also in the top 10 on the men's side.
Maggie Nava (San Antonio, Texas / Holy Cross) and Robert Slaybaugh (Missouri City, Texas / Elkins) both turned in top 20 performances in the shot put, while Francois finished ninth in the women's hammer throw.
Madison Habeck (Lake Jackson, Texas / Clute Brazoswood) missed her personal best in the 1,500-meter run by just over three seconds, finishing in ninth place on Friday. Several other Tigers competed in the event for the first time, while both Ella Kelly (Eastham, Mass. / Nauset Regional) and Rushil Desai (Houston, Texas / St. Pius X) had new personal records in the event.
